Setting up a Community Content Program for your RPG

Interested in having a Community Content Program for your RPG game system and/or setting?

Below is the list of items we need from you in order to set-up a community content program around your game. Gather together the assets and information listed below and then contact your publisher service rep.

To launch a successful Community Content Program, we need four things from you.

1. User Agreement

Attached is a copy of the boilerplate legal agreement that community creators would click-thru and agree to when they upload content into your program. The file is HTML tagged text and is easier to read in an HTML viewer. Please review the agreement and make sure it is satisfactory. Let us know if you would like any changes.

On sales of community content, OneBookShelf keeps its standard 30% or 35%. You determine of the remaining 70% or 65% how much should go to the community creator. So far all publishers have 50% going to the creator, leaving 20% or 15% for themselves.

Please confirm the creator royalty rate along with the user agreement.

2. Content Guideline

Each Community Content program has its own Content Guideline, which is the plain English explanation to customers what they are and are not allowed to do under your program.

Art - Including your banners and logos, the program logo for Creators to use, and art packs for Creators to use in their works

Logos and Trade Dress - Which logos do you require on all works made by Creators?

Other - Additional restrictions or encouraged parameters.

It is up to you to determine what is mandatory (for example: the current rules set), what is optional (for example: additional settings or previous edition rules update), and what is blocked (for example: a newly released setting or previous rules edition). We understand that many publications have their own needs and challenges, so we're happy to work with you and your needs to get to launch.

3. Materials for your Creators

Many people who contribute to community content programs have never tried publishing their own rpg content before. To make the program successful and improve the quality of community content offerings, we ask that you provide a few initial resources to community creators.

Logo - It's helpful to design a logo that will go on the cover of all community content works. This logo is also used for the product line category image under your publisher account where all the community content will go on the marketplace.

Template - Providing a template in Word format and InDesign formats is suggested. The template should build in mandatory elements you want every community content work to include such as: the correct legal line, the program logo, and recommend trade dress elements. The template should include fonts that are free for commercial use so that community creators do not have to license fonts.

Art/Map Packs - Access to art is a major problem for community creators. Releasing art and cartographic art packs that are free for community content creators to use on their works (and only on the work in your program), help them get over the art hurdle. Pulling art from older editions of your game (if available) is a solid approach.

4. Launch Titles

We encourage you to work with some of your best fans and freelancers to use the materials and create a few titles ahead of the official launch of your program. Programs launch more strongly when we can seed the program with a few finished works right at launch.

Once you have those four things, contact your publisher service rep and we'll get your program going (and of course contact us any time with questions).